Challenges Painted By Years
by HarmonyWasOnceJamesAndLily
Summary: She Felt Unloved. Deprived Of The Very Thing That Kept Her Going. And Then, She Found Herself In Anubis House. It Was Her Daddy's Best Mistake. And Throughout Her Life, She's Realized That, Every Year She Will Face Challenges, But What She Has Already Passed Will Help Her. So, Her Struggle Was Worth Every Second.


All Amber wanted in life was to be loved. She wanted her Daddy to be proud of who she was. She went on and on and on to everyone about how she was his princess, but it was all lies.

When Amber was four, she learned that her Daddy didn't care. He would go to work, come home, and sleep. They never did anything together. He never even cooked her dinner. Her friends, the maids, did. And whenever Amber tried to tell him about her day or the friends she'd made, he'd shush her and tell her he was tired. The he'd hobble up the stairs and into bed. It was the same routine every day.

When Amber was five, she understood what it really meant that her Mom wasn't coming back. She had always thought she'd pop up one day out of the blue and they'd go on and be best friends. But she realized that day was never coming. Her Mommy was dead. She died when Amber was two. Her Daddy used to yell and scream at her about actually caring about their daughter. She never knew why he didn't want anyone to care for her. One day, her Mommy said she'd had enough. She walked out the door and took nothing but her car. Her Mommy didn't even make it out of Liverpool before the drunk driver hit her. And she was gone. Amber had no one.

When Amber was six, she tried to make her Daddy notice her. She threw huge tantrums in public and at home. The maids consoled her soon enough but her Daddy decided to ship her off to a boarding school on the other side of London. The night before she left, the maid that acted like a Mother to her, read her stories before bed, soothed away the nightmares, helped her get dressed in the morning, made her lunch, walked her to the bus and picked her up later and played with her after school until bed, that maid gave her a heart pendant necklace she had used that month's salary on. She told Amber to wear it close to her heart and every time she saw it, remembered she is loved. Amber loved the maid. She called her Mommy often. So the next morning, she threw the biggest tantrum ever when she had to be dragged away from her 'Mommy'. Her Dad put her in the car and dropped her off on the front porch of Anubis House with her bags, telling her nothing.

When Amber was seven, a new girl moved into the house. It used to be just her and the scary caretaker named Victor. She even had to stay though the holidays and summer vacation. But when the new girl came, things started to look up. The girl's name was Mara. She had nice parents that toured the school with her, helped her unpack and told her they loved her before they left. They even came to visit sometimes. Amber never had any of these things. So she found herself becoming best friends with Mara. Her parents even invited her into all of their family functions. Amber felt loved again.

When Amber was eight, a nice lady moved into the house. She was the house mother. And that was how Amber and Mara saw her. Well, more of Amber. She was a second mother to Mara. Her name was Trudy and she was like a Mom. She cooked and cleaned and spread love. Amber ate up every second of Trudy talking to her, helping her bake, watching random sitcoms on TV. She finally had a real home and a real family. But she still wanted her Daddy to love her. That was also the year she discovered her dream. She had always loved fashion. Clothes were her friends. She cares about them because she had nothing left to care for. But when she told her Daddy about her dreams, he laughed in her face.

When Amber was nine, the nightmares came. Every night for the whole year, she woke screaming and crying. But she would never tell anyone about the dreams. They were terrible. They left her scarred. Amber read in a book once that nightmares are the reflection of traumatic experiences, and she instantly thought of her Daddy.

When Amber was ten, she started getting really good grades. Mara was a child genius and her parents loved her. Amber tried but it was hard for her. She and Mara studied every night and suddenly she found herself getting grades above and beyond where she should be. Maybe her Daddy would love her now.

When Amber was eleven, she stereotyped herself. All of these new kids began to move into the house and she felt like she needed to be someone. She dumbed herself down and purposely lowered her potential on tests. She went from straight A's to straight C's. Her Daddy would call to yell at her all the time about her grades. But at least they were talking and that was all Amber wanted. She also changed her appearance. She wore only name brands and designer shoes. She loved fashion. Clothing is her life. But she kept her biggest dream a secret.

When Amber was twelve, she got her first kiss. And she called her Daddy to tell him all about it. Boy, was that a mistake. Patricia, a sort of gothic but very nice girl dared her to kiss the new boy, Alfie. And she willingly did so. Alfie was funny. Even though he pranked her and her friends. He was still very nice. And he liked her. She picked up her cell phone and called her Daddy. He sat there and yelled at her for hours, debating taking her to a different school (because he didn't want her home). But she begged and pleaded and he finally let her stay. She gave up on love for herself, but she fell in love with love. She set everyone else up in her minds and tried to make it happen in front of her eyes. She became the love guru because she wasn't allowed to love.

When Amber was thirteen, she found true love wasn't real. All the people she had set up in her head didn't get together no matter how hard she tried and her Daddy dated girl after girl. There were rumours that he beat them, but Amber knew they weren't true. No matter how many bad qualities her Daddy had, he wouldn't beat a woman. Or his little girl. He would have done it by now if he had the idea in mind. But she gave up in love. For herself at least. No one could ever love 'perfect' Amber Millington. But she wasn't perfect; she was broken.

When Amber was fourteen, she learned some people just don't care about others. And she was more determined to show the world she was not one of those people. When she saw someone struggling, she'd help them immediately. No matter what the situation, she was there to help. And she let others know that. If they needed her, she was there. She never had parents to care about and love her, so she wanted to prove she was not going to be like her Daddy.

When Amber was fifteen, she found love. Or so she thought and she made sure no one ever mentioned Mick to her Daddy. He was her little secret. She thought she loved Mick, but she still had no idea what love was. She'd never had it shown to her. Amber's parents had fought constantly. She didn't have any Aunts or Uncles in love. None of her friends dated. She was the only one who had even gotten her first kiss. What she had with Mick, she thought it was love. But she had to keep up the fa_çade for him to like her. She had to stay changed. She wanted someone to break her shell and let out the real Amber Millington. She wanted someone to tell her, her dreams aren't so far away. Someone to tell her she had talent. Someone to find out that she really was smart, and she liked it. What she didn't know, is that someone already looked at her like that. The year she was fifteen was great for her. She had a best friend. She had Nina. Nina was everything she had ever wanted in a friend and more. But most importantly, she cared. She let her in on her and Fabian's secret. She let her create Sibuna and run half of it. And then Sibuna expanded. Patricia and Alfie were let inside the secret. Mara and her might have had a fall out, but she finally, for once in her life, felt accepted. Especially by Alfie Lewis. She was cared for and loved. She started to let some of the real Amber show. She let them know that she was 'a little bit of a genius'. Though she had her blonde moments. She also realized she didn't need Mick after all. She didn't know it before, but that wasn't love. And Alfie's huge crush on her might have been._

_When Amber was sixteen, she was brand new. She stayed over the summer like she did every year, but only Nina, Mara and Alfie knew. Alfie stayed with her a few times. That's how he came to be so close to her. When it was just them, they sometimes would talk about that first kiss and Amber would blush a deep scarlet and hide her face. He loved when she did that. He loved her. And Amber knew that. She just pretended she didn't But she might have loved him too. Might have? Haha. She loved him without a doubt. But perfect little Millington with prankster Lewis? Her Daddy was going to find out and she would get in BIG trouble. So she hides her feeling until they finally get together. She couldn't hide anymore. Just don't tell Daddy. And when they broke up, you didn't see it behind her fake smile, but you have no idea how much she cried that night. It was a good thing she had Nina. Nina was her safe haven. Her best friend. And she meant just as much to Amber as Alfie. When Nina and Alfie fell into the tunnel, Amber cried that night as well. But she made sure to talk to them regularly. Her best friend and the love of her life. But she feed Alfie regularly. This was her way of showing she cared. When she asked to get back together, she knew he was the only thing she needed. She could live without everyone and everything else except for Alfie and Nina. When he said no, she broke beyond repair. When she fell into the tunnel, Amber was overjoyed to see him. She just wanted to kiss him and hug him and forget the past. But she knew she couldn't so that made the day they got back together the best of her life. She knew there was reason she never gave up on her happily ever after._

_When Amber was seventeen, Nina didn't come back. They had promised to be friends forever. The promise was not broken, but bent. It still felt broken. Fabian wasn't the only one suffering._ She cried herself to sleep for many nights. Almost everyone. She had to cover her red eyes with make-up in the morning before she could face the world. But she still had Alfie. And fashion school had been fashionating, as she put it. But she missed Nina more than she even missed her own dead mother. She never knew her well. She doesn't have any memories of her. But Nina, Nina has been there though both the worst and the best. Nina knew everything. Everything and anything. and she hated how everyone only cared about helping Fabian. Except for Alfie. He snuck into her room after lights out many times and wiped away her tears. He would braid her hair for her and then tuck her into bed, kissing her forehead and leaving before Victor caught them. She loved him. She finally knew what love was. And then she got caught. Denby caught her and they were going to send her away. She would have stayed if she was not forced away. She knew this was the opportunity of a lifetime but she was staying with Alfie. Forever. But then she was taken out of school, with just her last goodbyes left. When she whispered I love you to Alfie and he didn't reply, she knew why. She knew that she would get caught. He had no idea how but her Daddy had a way of getting things out of her. If he had said he loved her, which he had done many times before, her Daddy would know. He sincerely had no idea how. But he couldn't say it. And she knew that. So she left without a kiss and her last goodbye on her lips.

When she was seventeen and a half, Victor died and Denby was exposed, she went back to Anubis. She hated fashion school. She hated it with a passion. It wasn't right for her. Fashion was till her dream, but this was not the place she was going to get her education. Everyone was so mean. Her teachers were judgemental and hated every design she came up with and she made no friends. She was going back to Anubis. Her Daddy gladly let her go. Fashion school was too expensive. So she left, and brought Nina with her. Nina's flat was exactly 7.9 miles away from fashion school. Her Gran was much better and Eddie could NOT run Sibuna. He couldn't. It was too much pressure. Nina and Fabian had gone strong the whole time. When Amber left, Fabian gave her a letter to give to Nina. It was about twelve pages long. But Nina fell in love all over again. She had confined in Amber that she was tortured without Fabian. She needed him. So they were almost the only couple in Anubis that made long distance work. It also worked for Amber and Alfie. She kept him close. He wasn't getting away from her. Never again. Both Amber and Alfie and Fabian and Nina's reunions were the sweetest thing in the world. Things began to really look up. They had gotten their fairytale endings.

When Amber was eighteen, she and Alfie went strong all year. Every couple she had envisioned in her head got together. She wasn't that bad with love after all. She confronted her Daddy that year. She told him she was not at all the daughter he wanted but so much more. She was her own person. She had love. And friendship. She had happiness. She had her own family. After that, she graduated as one of the smartest people in the school and bought her own flat with Alfie. Her Daddy stopped talking to her. But she was fine with that. He only brought bad things into her life.

When Amber was nineteen, she made up with her Daddy. He accepted her. He was proud. She was going to a different fashion school in London. She still lived with Alfie. She was happy. Her life had been a rollercoaster so far and she was happy to settle down. All of her friends still lived around her. No one from Anubis house was distant. Stuck like glue, together forever. Nina lived next door with Fabian. They were getting married the next year and she was overjoyed that her best friend was happy. Because her own happiness reflected on those of others. Much like Alfie. Everything was perfect now. Everything. She had rekindled the flame with her Daddy. The flame that had burned for only a very few short years. But this was her new beginning.

When Amber was twenty, Nina and Fabian were married. She was the Maid of Honour. And it made her realize how much she wanted get married. She wanted it more than anything. Because that commitment to love someone forever meant so much to her. She would stick to her promise to her husband. In the fall, Alfie proposed to her. They began wedding planning while they also attended their other housemates weddings and Amber ran her name brand boutique and Alfie ran his joke shop. They hadn't changed much.

When Amber was twenty one, she was married. It was small. Tiny as it could get. The Anubis House residents, her Daddy, Alfie's parents and Trudy. It was nothing you'd expect from spontaneous Amber Millington. But it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. They had gotten married in a butterfly garden. With millions of flowers of different colours and designs with the gorgeous butterflies flapping dainty wings around them. Her Daddy walked her down the Aisle and gave her away to the love of her life. Her dress was pastel pink. Amber was nothing if not unique so it makes sense that her wedding was just like her. Nina was her Maid of honour. She let her bridesmaids wear dresses in the colour, length and design of their own choice. And she has even made the dresses. They told her how they wanted them and she was happy, sitting in her sewing room, talking to Alfie while she crafted her masterpieces. It was the best day of her life.

When Amber was twenty two, she had a little girl. Her name was Ella. And she looked exactly like Amber. Except her deep chocolate eyes like her Daddy. She was gorgeous to say the least. Their little girl was perfect. She had a hilarious personality like her Daddy. She loved clothing like her mother. And she loved to read like the both of them. She was very smart for her age. In the weird way the universe works, she was born in the same month as Sarah, Nina and Fabian's daughter and they were best friends.

When Amber was twenty three, her name brand boutique went insane. She was in high demand. Amber Millington was the only person in the world who hand sowed every piece of clothing in her store. She didn't just design; she created. And she blew up big. Huge companies like Channel had tried to by her pieces before but she sold them only exclusively in her small boutique, Sometimes Ella helped her. And it was the most adorable thing in the world. She would greet the costumers and show them where things were. She asked sizes and matched the numbers to the hangers. She practically co-runs the place. But she also had another job. Working at the joke shop. Oh, how she loved it there. And there were kids her age to play with. She got to demonstrate the toys and gags and how they worked. She truly was a business woman. and she learned everything she knows from Amber. As did Alfie. With her Dad running a huge company, she knew these things. And speaking of Mr Millington, his daughter, son-in-law and mostly, his granddaughter were his prise and joy. He had completely reinvented himself and turned his life around. He was kind. He had a loving wife for as of two years now. And he was happy. He was happy that things had worked out between him and his daughter. He was happy his son-in-law was hilarious and always had jokes to brighten the mood. He loved Alfie because Alfie made Amber happy. And that was all that mattered now. He had to make her happy. He wanted to make up for the past so he stuck around for a long time. After years and years of challenges painted on design fabric, Amber truly got her happily ever after.


End file.
